This invention relates to a plate-shaped member capable of retaining brake pads and detecting the wear of the brake pads.
A method in which brake pad backing plates are depressed against a stationary member (torque member) in one direction by spring means to prevent the generation of rattle sounds, etc. is well known in the art.
However, it is difficult to effectively prevent the generation of the abnormal sound merely by applying a depressing force to the pad backing plates in the circumferential direction. If the application of depressing forces is intended in several directions by means of only one spring, then the construction necessarily becomes intricate.
On the other hand, a method in which a probe is inserted into a brake pad to its wear limit and to electrically detect the wear of the brake pad is extensively employed. However, this method is disadvantageous in that the probe mounting construction is relatively intricate and a detection circuit must be provided. Therefore the number of factors potentially causing trouble is increased as is the manufacturing cost.